Coaching technology
teams to peak performance
Tom Greaney, Chief Product Officer
Business Insider
Sami was an outstanding leader and guide to Business Insider's product team, fostering a collaborative and innovative atmosphere. Her dedicated mentorship and support significantly accelerated her teams professional growth. Under her guidance, her mentees and teams showed remarkable improvements in both their skills and confidence, which positively impacted product development and overall team performance.
Eric Saam, VP Engineering
Leading digital media company
What truly sets Sami apart is her transformative approach to collaboration and mentoring. She quickly established trusted partnerships within our teams, infusing our Agile workflows with new methods and energy that resulted in streamlined processes. Her leadership not only created high-performing, unified teams but also empowered senior engineers to become better people managers and business leaders.
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Her ability to translate intricate details into understandable concepts fosters alignment and collaboration, while her proactive approach to identifying problems and developing effective solutions drives successful outcomes. Sami's impressive capacity for rapid learning allows her to embrace new concepts and apply them in ways that enhance team performance and drive innovation.
Matt Williams, Director of Engineering Business Insider
Working with Sami for four and a half years was a once-in-a-career experience. Her ability to foster seamless collaboration between product and tech is unparalleled. Sami quickly learns technical concepts and excels at explaining them to others, ensuring everyone is on the same page. She understands how engineers work and communicate, and skillfully translates that into terms the business can grasp. Her coaching on managing teams was invaluable, and she was pivotal in my success as a manager. Sami's unique blend of technical acumen and business insight was crucial to our teams' achievements.
ABOUT
As a technology leader, I often observed gaps - of understanding, trust, and alignment on priorities and process - between engineers immersed in code and business stakeholders impatient to see P&L results. In my product management career I gained a lot of experience in bridging these gaps to drive collaboration and results.
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In my coaching practice, I work with individuals, teams, and cross-functional groups of tech and non-tech professionals on how to navigate the intersection of technology and business. Areas I work in include helping tech and product development teams design effective ways of working together, coaching engineers to become managers and business leaders, and educating non-technical leaders to understand what lies under the hood of their products.
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Born on the cusp between millennials and Gen Z, I connect especially well with early-career workers, understanding their needs and communication styles. My coaching ethos is to focus on the whole person's well-being, in the belief that people can contribute the most to their organizations when they feel like they are thriving in work and life.
Closing the Gap: 1x1 Coaching for Tech and Product Professionals
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Sami Melcher Coaching addresses the unique challenges tech and product professionals face, such as understanding the whole business, communicating with technical and non-technical stakeholders, articulating trade-offs with business impacts, and giving and receiving feedback.
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Combining business acumen with experience in tech and product management, I bring empathy, organizational savvy, and the ability to challenge and support my clients.
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By the end of our engagement, clients will understand the overall business better, operate effectively with their teams and stakeholders, and thrive in diverse environments.
SERVICES
Leading with Confidence: Training for First-Time Technical and Product Managers
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A comprehensive, multi-module program designed to equip new tech and product managers with essential leadership skills.
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Participants will learn to articulate strategy and vision, build a strong team culture, manage performance, and provide effective feedback.
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Each module includes the creation of an action plan tailored to their daily challenges, ensuring immediate application and tangible results.
Strategic Meeting Facilitation for Critical Product and Project Planning
Tech Essentials: Insight into the Backbone of Your Business
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A half-day to full-day workshop designed to demystify technology for business leaders. Ideal for mid-level managers to C-suite executives making strategic resource decisions about technology projects, this program empowers non-tech professionals to collaborate effectively and drive company success.
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Participants will leave with a mastery of technical vocabulary, a set of essential questions for any tech project, and increased confidence in interacting with their technical counterparts.
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Hands-on facilitation to ensure that high-stakes product and project planning meetings are effective, inclusive, and results-oriented.
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Starting as far in advance as necessary, I collaborate with product, tech, project, and design teams to craft a high-impact session(s) that achieves desired decisions and ensures every voice is heard. Participants will leave with clear decisions made and projects planned, enhancing the organization’s capacity in these areas.
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I work closely with meeting sponsors to design an agenda that guarantees full participation and thorough preparation. This service not only achieves immediate goals but also builds the capacity of product managers and team leads by working alongside me during this process.
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This service is ideal for pivotal moments such as migrating legacy systems, implementing AI solutions, or upgrading core infrastructure.